thursday, july 18th, 2019, at 6:30 p.m. texas … july...kids to stay in school and prepare for...
TRANSCRIPT
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July, 2019 Vol 8, Issue 6
www.txhas.org
www.txhas.org
Thursday, July 18th, 2019, at 6:30 p.m.
“Texas Archeological Field School at Palo Duro Canyon State Park”
A group of Houston Archeological Society members
including Beth Kennedy, Bob Sewell, Sharon
Menegaz, Frank Kozar and Sandy Rogers will present
the monthly program for the Houston Archeological
Society on Thursday, July 18th at 7:00 p.m. at The
Trini Mendenhall Community Center, 1414 Wirt
Road, Houston, TX 77055. The program will
highlight archeological excavations and surveys
undertaken during the 2019 TAS Field School held
June 8 - 15 at Palo Duro Canyon State Park in Canyon,
Texas, the second largest canyon in the entire country!
Over 300 avocational and professional archeologists
from across the State of Texas and beyond including
many HAS members attended field school at Palo
Duro this year which was co-sponsored by the Texas
Archeological Society and Texas Parks and Wildlife. An additional 50 young archeologists participated in the
youth dig run by Doug Boyd, Trudy Williams and Sharon Menegaz.
The primary goals for this year’s field school were to record new sites within the canyon and to collect
additional information on sites that were recorded many decades ago. Survey teams worked in easily accessible
areas of the park near the main loop, as well as in the more rugged, seldom visited reaches of the sprawling
canyon. Areas of more intensive excavation took place at a historic CCC-era site and several of the park’s
prehistoric sites. Dr. Kevin Hanselka served as the Principal Investigator.
HAS members will report on their specific assignments at field school. Beth Kennedy will give an overview of
Palo Duro Canyon State Park and the 2019 field school. Bob Sewell, who was a crew chief at field school, will
report on excavations in his unit and artifacts recovered. Sharon Menegaz and Dr. Liz Coon-Nguyen will give
an overview of the youth group excavations and the Archeofair, much of which was sponsored through a grant
from HAS. Sandy Rogers will speak on the survey efforts at Field School. Finally, Frank Kozar will report on
his excavations of a possible bison bone.
The meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. with our monthly Show and Tell, snacks and visiting so please join us
before the presentation which begins at 7:00.
Parking at the Trini Mendenhall Center is free of charge. For more information about this program or about the
HAS, please contact Linda Gorski, at [email protected].
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President’s Message – Linda Gorski
Recently HAS learned about an amazing summer program called Lunch and Learn
offered at the Northwood Church in the Spring Klein area for underprivileged children to
strengthen academic performance, learn about different career path opportunities and
share a lunchtime meal provided by generous volunteers and sponsors including HEB.
Lunch & Learn is also possible due to the help of many teachers from Hassler and
Benignus Elementary Schools, who donate their time during their summer vacation to
make a difference in the lives of these children.
Kids taking part in the program range in age from 6 to 17. Sponsors make it possible for
the older children to go on field trips to different career and technology sites. This year
they were able to visit Lone Star College, Operation Independence, the Klein EMT and a
Veterinary facility and to hear from many working professionals who encouraged the
kids to stay in school and prepare for their future.
Program sponsor Peggy Winters contacted the Houston Archeological Society several months ago about giving the
younger kids in the program a presentation on archeology, so on June 19th that’s just what we did! Our crack educational
outreach team led by Sharon Menegaz and joined by Larry Golden, Bob Sewell, Louis Aulbach and I brought our
powerpoint presentation, hands on displays of real historic and prehistoric artifacts, our ceramics reconstruction projects
and our corn grinding activity up to Northwood Church and as you will see by these photos, the kids loved it! Peggy is
already planning next year’s programs which we hope will include a real archeological dig for the older students. Thanks
to Sharon, Bob, Larry and Louis for providing these kids with such a fun day and teaching them how HAS digs up Texas
history – one trowel full at a time 😊
Sharon Menegaz teaches the kids about large animal
bones including vertebrae.
Bob Sewell, kids and hands-on artifacts – always a hit!
Students learn about shell and animal bone and how they
fit into the Native American diet
Check the concentration – ceramics reconstruction
Success! A plate reconstructed!
Corn grinding. This activity teaches the students just
how much effort it was to grind enough corn to feed a
family.
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Houston Archeological Society
Monthly Meeting
May 16, 2019 Welcome New Members and Guests to our meeting location at the Trini Mendenhall Community Center (Dub
Crook for Linda Gorski, President).
Treasurer’s Report (Bob Sewell): Bob reported amounts in the HAS checking and savings accounts. If any member is
interested in more information about HAS finances, please see Bob.
Membership (Bob Sewell): So far this year, our membership count is 206!
Embroidered Hats (Bob Sewell): The fourth shipment of hats has arrived, and Bob has them after the meeting tonight.
If you signed up to purchase one last month, you may pick it up after the meeting.
New Business:
Publications (Dub Crook): This is a reminder to pick up the publications you do not have. Also, Roman Journal
#140 will be available at the July meeting. This journal will include articles on Roman archeology all around the Empire.
Monthly Show and Tell (Larry Golden): On display tonight is a dark blue and white “American Villa” transferware
pattern (1813-1833) sherd found at San Felipe de Austin. This pattern was made by Bourne, Baker & Bourne, in Fenton,
Stoke-on-Trent, England.
Projects and Events:
Kleb Woods Public Archeology Project (Ashley Jones): Please join us at Kleb Woods Saturday May 25! We will be
working in the yard in front of the house. Also, a stone feature has been found, and we will be conducting further
excavation on this.
San Felipe de Austin Shovel Testing Project: (Sarah Chesney and Bob Sewell): We are down to our last few
workdays, which are scheduled on Wednesday, May 22 (probably a lab day); Wednesday, May 29; and Saturday, June 1.
On the last two scheduled days, we will start at 7:30 a.m. due to the summer heat. We are doing STP’s and are finding a
few good ceramics, etc.!
June Program: THERE WILL BE NO MEETING IN JUNE DUE TO FIELD SCHOOL AT PALO DURO
CANYON! Our July meeting will be the report on Field School by HAS members who attended.
May Program: The subject of Dr. Barrett’s presentation was “Native American Trade Trails and Meeting
Locations in SE Texas Prehistory.”
“Trade goods,” or material culture from other regions of the United States, have been recorded in many
archeological deposits across southeast Texas. For instance, stone tools from the archeological sites at Dimond Knoll on
Cypress Creek in Harris County, and Smithers Lake in Fort Bend County provide clear evidence of long-distance
contact. Among the 1,330 projectile points recorded within the combined assemblages from Dimond Knoll and Smithers
Lake are many artifact types commonly associated with the Ohio and Mississippi River Valleys! Remarkably, both
the Dimond Knoll and Smithers Lake sites show evidence of having been repeatedly revisited over a period of more than
11,000 years!
- Beth Kennedy, Secretary
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Aviation Archeology at the Pioneer Flight Museum
by Louis F. Aulbach
A few weeks ago, my old friend Dana Enos and I headed out I-10 toward San Antonio to visit the most remarkable
aviation museum in Texas. The Pioneer Flight Museum is tucked away in the ranch country near the small town of
Kingsbury -- located about 10 miles west of the Buckee's at Luling.
The purpose of our visit was to follow up on some research that we had done on the Johnson's Ranch Army Airfield that is
now in the Big Bend National Park. From the late 1920's to the early 1940's, the U. S. Army operated an airfield along the
Rio Grande. About a decade ago, during our research for my guidebook The Great Unknown of the Rio Grande
(https://www.amazon.com/Great-Rio-Grande-Terlingua-including/dp/1499520085/), we became interested in the story of
the one and only airplane accident at the Johnson's Ranch airfield. Recently, we returned to that story and Dana
discovered that the Pioneer Flight Museum was in the process of restoring an aircraft similar to the one that crashed at
Johnson's Ranch. We wanted to see that aircraft and talk to the man who was restoring it, hoping to gain some insight into
the story of the plane that crashed.
We arrived at the museum about 9:30 am, and we met Roger Freeman, a founder and the chief machinist/restorer/historian
of the museum. A retired airline pilot, Freeman now devotes all of his time, and resources, to the renovation and historical
preservation of aircraft from the beginning of aviation up to World War II. He says that there are many facilities that
maintain and preserve aircraft from the World War II period, but very few who work with aircraft prior to 1941. That is
where his museum is focused, and when you visit, you will realize that this museum is the best-kept secret in Texas!
Our specific goal was to learn what Freeman knows about the Thomas-Morse
O-19 aircraft, the 1920's era airplane that crashed at Johnson's Ranch.
Freeman is currently restoring an earlier Thomas-Morse airplane, the model
S4C, manufactured about 1917.
But before we sat down to discuss out topic of interest, Freeman wanted to
show us around the multiple hangers that comprise the museum and its
workshops. When I mentioned that I was associated with the Houston
Archeological Society, Freeman took great note and said that what he does is
“aviation archeology.” With that, he wanted to show the whole gamut of the
activities at the museum, a veritable lab for the recovery, processing and
restoration of ancient flying aircraft.
As we walked through the shops, Freeman pointed out the stages in which a
half dozen vintage aircraft were under restoration. The goal of each project is
to restore the airplane to flying condition, and that often requires dismantling
the plane to its original bare skeleton and then re-building it part by part.
Parts that cannot be re-conditioned are re-manufactured on site by Freeman
and his small team of like-minded volunteer machinists. To assist in this
process, the museum has a large library of aviation publications from the period, original maintenance manuals, historic
photos and a multitude of other documents that help them reconstruct the aircraft as it was originally built.
As we walked around the various hangers, Freeman would point to airframes hanging from the ceiling of the hangers and
cite the identity of the aircraft, the difficulty in its restoration and the stockpile of parts that he has on the numerous racks
that line the walls of the hangers. Many of the names of these early airplane manufactures are completely unknown to the
general public, but they are truly the pioneers of aviation. Not surprisingly, he says that they have enough work lined up
for a decade or two. And, he needs help! If you are interested, do not hesitate to contact him.
Freeman helps to fund the museum and its mission by restoring aircraft for aviation museums around the world. He has
restored vintage aircraft that are now on display in places such as the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force at Wright-
Patterson AFB in Dayton, Ohio and in the air terminal in Hong Kong.
Thomas-Morse S4C-0189
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The Pioneer Flight Museum (http://pioneerflightmuseum.org/index.shtml) is located at 170 Pershing Lane, Kingsbury,
Texas 78638. Take I-10 to FM 1104, go north on FM 1104 about 2 miles to Pershing Lane on your left. The museum
office is in the large hanger that is straight ahead from the main entrance.
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HAS Board Member appointed to Houston Archaeological and Historic Commission
The Houston Archeological Society is proud to announce that on June
19th
, one of our Board members, Ashley Jones, was appointed to the
City of Houston’s Archaeological and Historical Commission
(HAHC). The HAHC is composed of a thirteen-member board that
advises on and reviews historic resources located in the City. The
Commission works closely with the Historic Preservation Department
and upholds the City’s Historic Preservation Ordinances (HPO). In
addition, the Commission identifies and advises on landmarks
(important cultural resources). The recognized landmarks are mostly
standing structures, but there is one archaeological site listed – Frost
Town! (A complete list can be seen here:
http://www.houstontx.gov/planning/HistoricPres/landmarks.html).
When the Commission was created, the City recognized that
archaeological sites are important historic resources, therefore one
seat on the commission must be held by an archaeologist. HAS is
delighted that Ashley was selected for that seat and will bring an
archeologist’s point-of-view to a diverse group of historic
preservation experts including historians, architectural historians, and
architects.
The Houston Archeological Society was founded in 1959 to foster enthusiastic interest and active participation
in the discovery, documentation and preservation of cultural resources, both prehistoric and historic, in the City
of Houston, The Houston Metropolitan Area and the Upper Texas Gulf Coast Region. The society works
closely with City, County and State historical and archeological entities to fulfill that mission.
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San Felipe de Austin State Historic Museum hosts the Sea of Mud Exhibit
Until Labor Day
Texas’ newest museum and visitors center at San Felipe de Austin State Historic Site is hosting
a limited-time exhibition titled El Mar de Lodo/The Sea of Mud, featuring more than 50 artifacts
related to the Mexican army’s retreat after the Battle of San Jacinto. The archeological
excavation of “The Sea of Mud” near Wharton was overseen by HAS member, Dr. Gregg
Dimmick, author of the book Sea of Mud: The Retreat of the Mexican Army after San Jacinto,
An Archeological Investigation.
Featured in the temporary exhibit gallery at San Felipe de Austin State Historic Site, this
collection is on loan from the Cushing Library at Texas A&M University. Many of these
objects are on display for the first time, available for viewing until Labor Day. And the
museum is offering free admission every Sunday this summer!! For a terrific article about this
exhibit by the Houston Chronicle historical writer, Joe Holley, please see
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/columnists/native-texan/article/San-Jacinto-and-a-
Sea-of-Mud-saved-13799562.php
San Felipe de Austin served as the capital of Stephen F. Austin’s colony in Mexican Texas from
1823 to 1836. In the spring of 1836, it was burned by evacuating residents as part of the
Runaway Scrape during the Texas Revolution. Today, the site preserves the stories of Austin
and his settlers through preservation, archeology, and public history programming related to the
Mexican Texas era. As many of you know, members of the Houston Archeological Society
have been working with the archeological staff at San Felipe de Austin for several years,
digging up Texas history and doing research on many of the artifacts that have been recovered.
The new visitor center and museum, opened in April 2018, is open every day from 9 a.m.–5
p.m. The historic site is one of the most accessible for heritage travelers, located just two miles
north of Interstate 10 near the Brazos River (220 2nd St., San Felipe, Texas).
The San Felipe de Austin State Historic Site is one of 22 state historic sites operated by the
Texas Historical Commission. For more information, contact the site at 979-885-2181.
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El Paso Museum of Archaeology Features Two New Exhibits
If you are traveling west this summer, the El Paso Museum of Archaeology is hosting two new
exhibitions that focus on the Jornada Mogollon Culture.
This exhibition will showcase petroglyphs and pictographs from iconic sites such as Hueco
Tanks, Three Rivers and Otero Mesa, as well as lesser known treasure troves from both sides of
the international border through the camera lenses of rock art experts, students and amateur
enthusiasts alike.
“Both exhibits feature the Jornada Mogollon culture which lived in the El Paso and surrounding
regions from about AD 01 – 1450. Our area has been a cultural crossroads for hundreds,
perhaps thousands of years, much like it is today,” said El Paso Museum of Archaeology
Director Jeff Romney. Through this exhibit we offer a glimpse of our prehistoric past through
photographs and objects from the Museum’s and El Paso Archaeological Society’s permanent
collections.” The exhibit runs through September 14th
. For more information see the links
below.
https://elpasoheraldpost.com/museum-of-archaeology-to-open-two-new-exhibits/
https://marfapublicradio.org/blog/nature-notes/at-el-paso-museum-of-archeology-new-exhibits-
highlight-west-texas-puebloan-history/
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HAS Journal 140 to be distributed at July meeting
Thanks to HAS members Dub Crook, editor, and Louis Aulbach, publisher, HAS Journal 140 is hot off the
press and will be distributed to HAS members at the July meeting.
This is the first issue of The Journal to be published by the Houston Archeological Society in 2019, the 60th
year
of the Society’s existence. “Based on the extreme popularity and feedback from last year’s special issue
dedicated to Roman archeology and history, we decided to publish a follow-on edition,” said Journal editor,
Dub Crook. “This issue builds on the topics explored in Issue #138 of The Journal and covers a wide range of
subjects from Rome, Greece (Corinth and Philippi), Constantinople and the Holy Land (Daesarea Maitime and
Capernaum).
The papers included in this issue of the Journal again reflect the widespread and global archeological interests
present among members of the Houston Archeological Society.” Authors of articles included in this Journal are
HAS Members Wilson W. “Dub” Crook, Louis Aulbach, Joshua Farrar and Linda Gorski.
HAS members receive complimentary issues of all Reports and Journals as a benefit of their membership. Our
recent publications (since 2014) are also available for sale on Amazon.com. All HAS publications from 1959
through 2017 are also available digitally on the HAS website at www.txhas.org
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DR. LAWRENCE (LARRY) ATEN PASSES AWAY
It is with great sadness to announce the passing of a brilliant archeologist and HAS
member, Dr. Lawrence (Larry) Aten. HAS recently bestowed upon Larry the
Lifetime Membership Award and an article about that presentation appeared in our
May 2019 newsletter. According to his wife, Carol Aten, and his nephew Doug
Brown, that award meant so much to him. According to them, he had the plaque
propped up near his bed during his last days. He will be missed by many. Here is a
link to his obituary in the Washington Post.
https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/washingtonpost/obituary.aspx?n=lawrence-
aten&pid=193159034
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HAS EMBROIDERED HATS
The fourth shipment of HAS embroidered hats has arrived and will be available for
purchase by HAS members at the next monthly meeting. They are $10 each and are
only available for purchase by and for HAS members. If you are interested in
purchasing one of them then please contact Bob Sewell [email protected].
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Objects d’art
By Tom Nuckols
The Houston Archaeological Society will host the 2020 Texas Archeological
Society annual meeting, set for October 22 – 24, 2020. The HAS Board of Directors
has asked me to make and donate my ‘Texas Beer Art’ items for the silent
auction. In order to complete a number of projects that we need, I will require
donations of beer bottle caps and 3/4” thick sheets of plywood.
The beer bottle caps can represent any brand, but it would be nice to have mostly
Texas beers. The plywood sheets need to be at least 2 feet square. The plywood
does not need to be in pristine condition.
Anyone experienced in wood working, and anyone who wants to help are welcome
to assist me.
Phone – 713-857-4350 / Email – [email protected]
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Dr. Leslie Bush, Paleoethnobotanist, to appear at Houston Museum of
Natural Science
This is an early “Save the Date” notification
for a program co-sponsored by HAS that you
MUST put on your calendars. Many of us
know Dr. Leslie Bush, the wonderful
paleoenthobotanist (an archeologist who
specializes in identifying bits of plants
preserved on archeological sites) who is at all
our TAS Field Schools and knows more about
native Texas plants than almost anyone! HAS
is one of the sponsoring organizations that
have come together to bring Dr. Bush to
Houston on Tuesday, October 1 at 6:30 p.m.
to present a program at the Houston Museum
of Natural Science, 5555 Hermann Park Drive,
Houston. Her topic will be “Sustaining
Texas: 5 Crucial Native Plants from the
Pleistocene to the Present Day” Texas plants
we enjoy today have been used for food,
medicine and crafts since the Paleo-Indians.
Using written accounts, Native American oral traditions, and archaeological
investigations, Dr. Bush will reveal why five plants in particular have been critical
to survival in Texas since 13,000 BC.
This event is co-sponsored by Fort Bend Archeological Society, Houston
Archeological Society and The Nature Conservancy, and the Houston Museum of
Natural Science. Members of the sponsoring organizations (that means all HAS
members!) receive reduced member price via coupon code at the museum box
office or 713.639.4629. (Coupon is not available online.) Tickets can be purchased
at www.hmns.org/lectures. NOTE: This event may not be listed on the HMNS
calendar yet, but it will be soon and we will also be publishing much more
information about it in upcoming newsletters.
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Houston Archeological Society
Monthly Meeting Programs for 2019
6:30pm Third Thursday of every month (except June)
Trini Mendenhall Community Center, 1414 Wirt Road
August 15, 2019 – Cecil Jones or Jeff Dunn - Recent Developments in Conserving and Restoring Historic
Properties Near the San Jacinto Battleground Historic Site
September 19, 2019 – Annual General Meeting. Program by Dub Crook - The Early Archeology and
Paleoanthropology of China”.
October 17, 2019 – Dan M. Worrall, Late Pleistocene through Holocene paleogeography of the Southeast
Texas coast and Charting the development of coastal southeast Texas cultures during a period of rising
sea level: an application of paleogeographic maps and GIS-based archeological databases.
November 21, 2019 – Joshua Farrar – Dumped and Forgotten – Civil War Artifacts recovered from
Buffalo Bayou at Milam Street Bridge
December 2019 – Linda Gorski - Overview of HAS Activities for the year 2019
All Houston Archeological Society meetings are free of charge and open to the public. For more information
about HAS then visit our website at www.txhas.org or email [email protected]. You can also join our
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/groups/123659814324626/
Please submit articles for publication to The Profile Editor Bob Sewell at [email protected]. Please submit
articles for the August issue no later than 26th
July.
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON ARCHEOLOGY IN THIS AREA, CONTACT THE FOLLOWING:
HAS BOARD MEMBERS
Linda Gorski, President, [email protected] Wilson “Dub” Crook, Director-at-Large, [email protected] Larry Golden, Vice President, [email protected] Ashley Jones, Director-at-Large, [email protected]
Bob Sewell, Treasurer, [email protected] Liz Coon-Nguyen, Director-at-Large, [email protected]
Beth Kennedy, Secretary, [email protected]
TEXAS ARCHEOLOGICAL SOCIETY Sandra E. Rogers, Region V Director, [email protected]
AREA TEXAS HISTORICAL COMMISSION ARCHEOLOGY STEWARDS Elizabeth Aucoin, [email protected] Ron Jackson, [email protected] Louis Aulbach, [email protected] Don Keyes, [email protected]
Wilson “Dub” Crook, [email protected] Sheldon Kindall, [email protected] Bob Crosser, 281-341-5251 Sharon Menegaz, [email protected]
Debbie Eller, [email protected] Clint Lacy, [email protected]
Charlie Gordy, [email protected] Tom Nuckols, [email protected]
Linda Gorski, [email protected] Sandra & Johnny Pollan, [email protected]
Bruce Grethen, [email protected] Sandra E. Rogers (Sandy), [email protected]
Sue Gross, [email protected] Gary Ryman, [email protected] Joe D. Hudgins, [email protected] Steve Salyer, [email protected]
Kathleen Hughes, [email protected] Bob Sewell, [email protected]
Brenda Jackson, [email protected] Paul Spana, [email protected]